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Project Goals

Harmful algal blooms (HABs), i.e. mass occurrences of microalgae producing toxins or causing other environmental damage, threaten ecosystem function and services. While HAB events are primarily known from temperate and warm coastal regions, HAB-forming species have been increasingly recorded in the Arctic Ocean in recent years. Global change has already led to warming of the Arctic, favouring the expansion of harmful species into these areas. This project is designed to improve our understanding and prediction of indicators, tipping points and impacts of HAB species in the Arctic.

We aim to achieve this by: a) characterizing current microalgal communities, with a focus on potentially harmful species; b) performing experiments to understand the ecological and evolutionary dynamics between harmful vs. non-harmful taxa under shifting environmental conditions; c) creating a dynamical ecosystem model to identify the critical environmental conditions and feedback loops leading to increased dominance of harmful microalgae (tipping); and d) communicating these findings and potential future risks to Greenland fisheries and local stakeholders. Specifically, we will evaluate competition between harmful versus non-harmful species, and define the limits of competitive ability and the potential for tipping points that could lead to HAB dominance. Our research will also address
the adaptive evolutionary capabilities of tolerances and competition-related traits of selected taxa.

We will investigate the current dispersal and connectivity of harmful algae, based on molecular markers in conjunction with variability in environmental properties at the Arctic Station in Disko Bay, Greenland, and a research cruise at the Greenlandic West Coast. The field work and laboratory experiments will be supported by functional genomics to elucidate the evolutionary adaptations of key cellular and physiological processes. An ecosystem model will be developed to identify preconditions of a tipping of the system towards dominance of HAB taxa. Knowledge gained will assist to design and develop the Greenland Living Lab and to evaluate the impacts of climate change on the marine ecosystem. Results will be disseminated to Greenlandic and international stakeholders across the governmental and private sector and NGOs, in particular local fisheries. The Greenland Living Lab will be a solution-oriented virtual laboratory for scientists studying the impact of HABs in an interdisciplinary manner, and synthesise their findings in order to maximise sustainability and mitigate impacts.